Silent Witness On the Hill

The junk-bond czar clams up

Like an Ollie North of the pinstripe set, Michael Milken was the biggest draw on Capitol Hill last week, even though he barely said a word. Eager for a rare glimpse of perhaps the most powerful financier in the U.S., a crowd began to gather at dawn outside the House hearing room where he was to appear. The spectacle, however, was short-lived. The hearing promptly adjourned after Milken, 41, refused three times to answer questions, claiming his Fifth Amendment right to protection from self-incrimination.

The Beverly Hills-based Milken, who built the junk-bond industry almost from scratch and amassed a personal fortune...

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